*DjFi* semi-noob, need advice

[Tyndras]

So I've been playing DCSS for a while and this is the farthest I've ever gotten. I've cleared out the Orcish Mines without too much difficulty now, and I'm entering the Elven Halls. I'm really not too sure where to go from here or after (if I can make it through) the Halls, maybe there are some resistances I'm missing, etc.

Basically, I don't know much about the intricacies of the mid-late game, and I'd be grateful if someone could point me in the right direction, or some direction, give a little tip or recommendation or two based on my stats/inventory, etc. Really don't want to lose this char from an easily avoidable mistake.
Here's my guy:

  Code:

Tyndras the Spry (Merfolk Gladiator)               Turns: 15911, Time: 02:48:56

HP  96/96        AC 17     Str 24      XL: 12   Next: 68%
MP  19/19        EV 23     Int  7      God: Okawaru [****..]
Gold 229         SH  0     Dex 16      Spells:  0 memorised, 11 levels left

rFire  . . .     SeeInvis .     l - +2 orc halberd (protect)
rCold  . . .     Clarity  .     j - +2 troll leather armour {Purgy}
rNeg   . . .     Conserve .     (no shield)
rPois  .         rCorr    .     c - +0 helmet
rElec  .         rRot     .     (no cloak)
SustAb . .       Spirit   .     (no gloves)
rMut   .         Warding  .     (no boots)
Gourm  +         Stasis   .     W - amulet of the gourmand
MR     .....                    u - +5 ring of protection
                                V - +5 ring of strength

@: not resistant to hostile enchantments, very stealthy

You are on level 1 of the Elven Halls.
You worship Okawaru.
Okawaru is greatly pleased with you.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 a - a +0,+1 trident
 b - a glowing orcish hand axe
 d - an uncursed glowing orcish mace
 l - a +2,+2 orcish halberd of protection (weapon)
 o - a +0,+0 orcish dagger
 p - a runed orcish flail
 r - a glowing orcish dagger
 s - a +4,+4 short sword of electrocution
 z - a runed orcish flail
 C - an orcish battleaxe
 F - a +2,+1 orcish spear
 I - the +2,+6 sling of Unpleasantness {velocity, +Inv rElec}
 O - a cursed +1,+1 dwarven dagger of venom
 R - a glowing orcish trident
 S - a runed orcish dagger
 T - a runed orcish short sword
Missiles
 h - 8 javelins
 y - 3 tomahawks
 L - 3 javelins of penetration (quivered)
 N - 18 stones
Armour
 c - a +0 helmet (worn)
 j - a +2 troll leather armour (worn) {Purgy}
 K - a +2 orcish leather armour of magic resistance
 M - a +2 orcish chain mail of fire resistance
Magical devices
 v - a tapered fluorescent wand
 B - a wand of disintegration {empty}
 E - a wand of lightning {empty}
 Q - a wand of hasting {zapped: 3}
Comestibles
 f - 7 bread rations
 k - 2 pears
 t - a choko
 w - 3 meat rations
Scrolls
 m - 2 scrolls of blinking
 A - a scroll of recharging
 D - a scroll of teleportation
 G - 4 scrolls of magic mapping
 P - 2 scrolls of remove curse
Jewellery
 e - a ring of flight
 i - an uncursed ring of magical power
 q - an uncursed ring of flight
 u - a +5 ring of protection (right hand)
 U - an uncursed ring of wizardry
 V - a +5 ring of strength (left hand)
 W - an amulet of the gourmand (around neck)
Potions
 n - 3 potions of restore abilities
 H - a potion of cure mutation
 J - a potion of paralysis
Books
 g - a book of Power   

Magical staves
 x - a cursed staff of summoning

   Skills:
 * Level 9.6 Fighting
 - Level 8.8 Short Blades
 * Level 11.3 Polearms
 - Level 0.5 Slings
 - Level 2.0 Throwing
 - Level 2.8 Armour
 * Level 16.0 Dodging
 * Level 8.3 Stealth
 + Level 4.1 Invocations
 + Level 1.0 Evocations


Also, one thing in particular: i've got all these runed weps, but not enough scrolls of remove curse. Anyone found a way around that problem?

[SublimeSnake]

Since you already have two separate weapon focuses, I would say you can probably drop all your axes, flails and so forth. Against low AC monsters, your short sword of elec is probably your best weapon at the moment.

At XL 12, I would probably get out of the Elven halls and go to lair if you haven't done that. Also your skill focus seems a little broad.

There are probably some other things but that's what stands out to me at the moment.

[Sprucery]

Get out of the Elven Halls immediately, it's dangerous. I usually do Lair (including rune branches), Vaults 1 - 4 and Dungeon to 20 - 27 before going to Elf. Elf:3 is much more dangerous than the first two levels, but you also won't gain much from Elf:1 - 2 so it's best to leave it all until later. Also, Elf is totally optional; you don't have to go there at all.

[Senban]

Disclaimer: I'm pretty n00b myself so whatever I say can't completely replace your own judgement and all advice from more experienced/competent crawlers supersedes mine, but:

The crawl orthodoxy for (melee characters) is to train your primary weapon to min-delay at the exclusion of all else. Auto skilling is essentially a trap for noobs - switch to manual skilling and train only polearms until you hit 16 (for the purposes of using a halberd) at which point you can stop min-delay scumming and start considering magic or other options (normally your defences but they're shit-hot for this stage in the game).

The thing I'd make an exception to the stock advice for is that sling, I imagine it'll make a pretty ugly mess out most enemies and putting a minimal amount of XP in to it will probably be well worth while.

As far as scrolls of remove curse vs potentially delicious loot go, I've got to tell you: you're magpieing like I-thought-I-was-bad-for-it. Ditch anything that you won't actively make use of (somewhere it won't come back to haunt you preferably). The trident is worth risking a curse scroll for, especially if you can find a buckler to go with it (don't let the buckler become an XP sink though unless you find an insanely nice artifact trident).

Try and figure out the order of difficulty of the branches - the Elven Halls are a pretty scary jump-up from the Orcish Mines. The general plan is to get in to the lair more or less as soon as possible, then the mines then get some kills and looting racked up in the dungeon before heading back to the lair to investigate the rune branches in (very) roughly swamp/snake/nest/shoal order.

[Sar]

The crawl orthodoxy for (melee characters) is to train your primary weapon to min-delay at the exclusion of all else.

That's a strictly bad advice for the vast majority of characters and a mediocre advice for some (mostly the ones with high HP and ridiculous weapon apts who can pull it off but still are better training some defenses before min delay).

[Lasty]

Everyone advising you to leave Orc is correct. You will not always be able to do each branch as soon as you find it in crawl, so when you start facing stiff resistance, it's often a good idea to go somewhere else.

Also worth noting is that you're training a huge number of different skills right now. Your Fighting and Dodging are at good levels right now, but your weapon skills need work. Increasing weapon skill greatly increases weapon damage by increasing the speed at which you swing a weapon, but at a certain skill level it stops increasing speed. This point is called "minimum delay", and you can determine what it is by following these steps:

1: Examine your weapon to find the base delay. It should look something like "150%". Divide this percent by 10, and you have the number of "arbitrary units of time" (AUTs) it takes to swing your weapon.
2: If you're playing trunk, minimum delay will also be listed when you examine your weapon. Otherwise, divide your base delay number in half and round down. If that number is greater than 7, use 7 instead. This number is your minimum weapon delay. Special exception: if you're wielding a sabre/cutlass, your minimum delay is 5.
3: Subtract your minimum delay from your base delay, and then multiply by two. This number is the number of levels of weapon skill you need to achieve minimum delay, because every two levels of weapon skill reduce the amount of weapon delay by 1 AUT. You should try to achieve min delay as soon as possible.

Of course, you also need to pick a weapon. There's little point to raising multiple weapon skills, so you should consider picking a weapon class to focus on. In your current inventory, the best candidates are the halberd of protection, the short sword of electrocution, and the sling of velocity. You've already got substantial investment in both the short sword and the halberd, and both will be okay for the moment. The short sword will be a solid choice for a while thanks to the electrocution brand, but short blades don't have a ton of room to grow from there, and that weapon will be bad against monsters that resist electricity. Polearms have a better top-end than short blades, but you'll need to put more experience into the skill to get best use of them. There's probably already a glaive somewhere in Orc that would be better than your halberd, and eventually you'll want to get a bardiche, though they are somewhat rare. The sling is actually a pretty good weapon, though you'd need to pick up some sling bullets and put a few more levels into the skill, and even then you'd probably want to switch to another weapon once monsters get close.

[Tyndras]

Thanks for the advice everyone! Gonna get to Lair and try out your guys' advice.

If you wanna see how it goes, I'm playing on CSZO, feel free to spectate!

[Tyndras]

I just found a +5 +0 executioner's axe of electrocution, would it be worth switching to specializing in Axes (-2 aptitude, 0 points right now) for something like that?

[Sar]

No, not worth the XP investment.

[Tyndras]

XL 15, 22 AC and 23 EV.
Is rPois + enough to take on the Spider's Nest?

[Sprucery]

There is only one level of poison resistance, so yes, rPois+ is enough. You can try the first level and see what it feels like. But do the whole of Lair first, if you haven't yet. If you go to Spider, leave the 5th level until later (do more Dungeon first).

[tedric]

There's only one level of rPois available from equipment; multiple sources are redundant. Also rElec, rCorr, rMut, etc. -- look for the number of pips on the % screen. There is such a thing as flat-out poison immunity, but that's only available to certain species or through effects that make you undead, like Necromutation, or artificial, like Statue Form.

Most enemies in Nest are venomous, and some inflict Strong Poison -- rPois helps to neutralize it, but you will still end up Regular Poisoned rather often. Memorize Cure Poison if you can. I try to grab it as early as possible, on just about any character, as it's very useful and effective even with 0 poison skill and high chance of miscast. Otherwise, bring extra !curing. A source of Clarity is also helpful, because Tarantellas can confuse you [redacted]even when you resist their venom[/redacted]. rCorr or Preservation, too, for Spiny Worms. And Sinv can help on the off chance that a Ghost Moth spawns before Nest:5.

[Siegurt]

Spider 1-4 is not going to be the easiest choice for you right now, but it's probably managable with excellent tactics, I wouldn't recommend it yet, Spider 5 is very very likely to get you killed at this point.

rPois is helpful, but doesn't prevent you from being mobbed. it also does nothing against tarantellas (Who aren't poisonous at all)

This is the order I usually do things in:

Dungeon to Lair, Lair1-8, Orc1-4, Rest of Dungeon, Lair branches (Spider/Snake/Swamp/Shoals), then Vaults, then (optionally) elf and/or crypt, Then (optionally) Slime, then Depths, Optionally abyss, optionally pan, optionally hells, Optionally tomb , then zot, then win. Sometimes I clear zot at some earlier point before winning, and sometimes i do parts or all of tomb earlier than pan/hells (it's tedious and sometimes consumes a lot of consumables which i can replenish in pan)

This is not the *absolute easiest* path, but it's close enough and involves less backtracking, and I'm usually well enough leveled for each area.

Melee users should usually pick one weapon type and stick with it, an occasional lucky find early enough may warrent a switch. For training on a character starting with melee I usually do: Fighting to 3-4, Dodge to 3-4, Weapon skill to about 8-10, Fighting to 6, Dodging to 12 with robes or leather and decent dex (Or armour to 10 if I'm using plate or chain, or Dodging to 8 and Armour to 8 if for some reason I'm using scale mail) Then back to weapon skill, Usually I shoot for min delay on one of the mid-tier weapons at this point (14-16 weapon skill) less if I don't have a heavier weapon or am using Oka, then more fighting (to 8-10) then I either branch out into spell skills, ranged weapons, invocation or evocation, or concentrate more on offense or defense (depending on what I have available and what god choices I've made) Only train 1-2 skills at a time, at least until you've got all your basics operational.

Prune your inventory down to what you're actually going to use, carrying around all those melee weapons isn't doing you any good. The base damage on weapons is more valuable than enchantment levels, at least once you've put some decent skill into your weapon-using category of choice. Don't bother wielding any weapon that's got a worse base weapon damage than the one you're using and don't bother to check any weapon that's not of the category you've trained (At least not once you've put around 10-14 points into it.) In your case I'd drop anything that isn't a polearm, and at least halberd level damage, the exception to that is that there are a few weapons who are faster than normal, with enough base damage to outpace the damage from a heavier, slower weapon, which are always worth considering (in particular because they also require less skill) Those are: Demon Whip, Sacred Scourge, Demon Trident, Trishula, Demon Blade, Eudemon Blade, Dire Flail, Quick Blade.

[tedric]

TIL:

rPois ... does nothing against tarantellas (Who aren't poisonous at all)

Thanks for the correction!

[Tyndras]

Well, my poor spry gladiator died many moons ago:( right now I've got a red draconian conjurer of Vehumet. He's pre-Lair, but it's probably the best spellcaster run I've ever had. I usually don't play them because I always die early, but this run's going pretty well. Taking out most monsters really easily right now.

Does anyone have any experience with conjurers or Vehumet to share? Think I oughta pool some points into dodging? (mostly/only doing spellcasting and conjuring) maybe learn some fighting and specialize in a weapon type and try doing a hybrid build?

[Amnesiac]

A dump would help to point out what your character lacks. You do need some dodging on any spellcasters. Also all the enchantment on the armour, that you can find(checking every piece like gloves, boots, etc. might get you a full set of +2 armour pieces which will make your character much tougher(draconians still can get +11 from a hat, gloves, boots and a cloak, thats' a lot.).

Are you interested in the book of conjurations or any conjurations? Because I prefer wizards.

[Tyndras]

The conjurer died
But now I've got this very nice DjFi who's in Snake right now.
Having trouble deciding between an eveningstar and a demon whip. I accidentally levelled M&F to 16, so is that way too much for demon whip mindelay?
Also my damage is nice, but I my guy is still sorta flimsy. Just pool XP into Armour and Dodging?

If anyone has any other advice based on my char dump, feel free to tell me:)

  Code:

Tyndras the Bludgeoner (Djinni Fighter)            Turns: 29749, Time: 02:27:07

HP  97/125       AC 21     Str 27      XL: 15   Next: 15%
MP   0/0         EV 12     Int 13      God: Okawaru [******]
Gold 1121        SH 32     Dex 17      Spells:  0 memorised, 14 levels left

rFire  + + +     SeeInvis .     f - +0,+4 eveningstar of Terra Nullius {crush, +Fly rC+ Stlth-}
rCold  + . .     Clarity  .     l - +4 scale mail "Qugecyrch" {rF++ Int+3}
rNeg   + + +     Conserve .     x - +3 shield of the Monkey {Str+3 Int+1}
rPois  +         rCorr    +     o - +2 helmet
rElec  .         rRot     .     a - +1 dwarf cloak {+Inv}
SustAb . .       Spirit   .     e - +1 pair of gloves {Dex+3}
rMut   .         Warding  .     (boots unavailable)
Saprov . . .     Stasis   .     M - amulet of the Failed Coup {rCorr rC+ Stlth+}
MR     +....                    g - ring of poison resistance
                                q - +3 ring of strength

@: flying, somewhat resistant to hostile enchantments, extremely unstealthy
A: fire immunity, cold vulnerability, life protection 3
a: Heroism, Finesse, Renounce Religion, Evoke Invisibility


You are on level 4 of the Snake Pit.
You worship Okawaru.
Okawaru is exalted by your worship.
You are not hungry.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 d - a +1,+2 mace of crushing
 f - the +0,+4 eveningstar of Terra Nullius (weapon) {crush, +Fly rC+ Stlth-}
   (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 4 of the Snake Pit)   
   
   It inflicts extra damage upon your enemies.
   
   It protects you from cold.
   It lets you fly.
   It makes you less stealthy.
 E - a +1,+0 quarterstaff of speed
 H - a +0,+2 dire flail of protection
 S - a +7,+5 demon whip of venom
 W - a +5,+0 mace of pain
 Z - the +3,+3 Elemental Staff {rElec rF++ rC++ MR++ AC+5}
   (You found it on level 5 of the Lair of Beasts)   
   
   It affects your AC (+5).
   It greatly protects you from fire.
   It greatly protects you from cold.
   It insulates you from electricity.
   It affects your resistance to hostile enchantments.
Armour
 a - a +1 dwarven cloak of darkness (worn)
 e - a +1 pair of gloves of dexterity (worn)
 l - the +4 scale mail "Qugecyrch" (worn) {rF++ Int+3}
   (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 6 of the Lair of Beasts)   
   
   It affects your intelligence (+3).
   It greatly protects you from fire.
 o - a +2 helmet (worn)
 x - the +3 shield of the Monkey (worn) {Str+3 Int+1}
   (You acquired it on level 1 of the Snake Pit)   
   
   It affects your strength (+3).
   It affects your intelligence (+1).
 y - a +2 hat of see invisible
Magical devices
 h - a wand of confusion {zapped: 8}
 r - a wand of invisibility {zapped: 1}
 s - a wand of magic darts {zapped: 1}
 v - a wand of disintegration {zapped: 14}
 F - a wand of fireball {empty}
 G - a wand of paralysis {empty}
 I - a wand of confusion {zapped: 3}
 K - a wand of fire {zapped: 5}
 N - a wand of frost {zapped: 1}
 P - a wand of polymorph {zapped: 2}
Comestibles
 z - 3 royal jellies
Scrolls
 b - a scroll of enchant armour
 m - 17 scrolls of identify
 u - a scroll of magic mapping
 J - 3 scrolls of recharging
 L - a scroll of enchant weapon II
 Q - 3 scrolls of remove curse
 T - a scroll of blinking
 X - 4 scrolls of teleportation
 Y - a scroll of fear
Jewellery
 g - a ring of poison resistance (right hand)
 n - an uncursed ring of teleportation
 q - a +3 ring of strength (left hand)
 D - an uncursed ring of fire
 M - the amulet of the Failed Coup (around neck) {rCorr rC+ Stlth+}
   (You acquired it on level 1 of the Lair of Beasts)   
   
   [amulet of resist corrosion]
   It protects you from cold.
   It makes you much more stealthy.
 O - an uncursed ring of regeneration
Potions
 c - a potion of brilliance
 j - 4 potions of curing
 t - a potion of magic
 A - 3 potions of invisibility
 B - a potion of speed
 V - 3 potions of might
Books
 i - a book of Frost   
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   Freeze                             Ice                          1
   Throw Frost                        Conjuration/Ice              2
   Ozocubu's Armour                   Charms/Ice                   3
   Throw Icicle                       Conjuration/Ice              4
   Summon Ice Beast                   Ice/Summoning                4
   Condensation Shield                Ice                          4
 w - a book of Frost   
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   Freeze                             Ice                          1
   Throw Frost                        Conjuration/Ice              2
   Ozocubu's Armour                   Charms/Ice                   3
   Throw Icicle                       Conjuration/Ice              4
   Summon Ice Beast                   Ice/Summoning                4
   Condensation Shield                Ice                          4
 R - a book of Power   
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   Iskenderun's Mystic Blast          Conjuration                  4
   Venom Bolt                         Conjuration/Poison           5
   Bolt of Magma                      Conjuration/Fire/Earth       5
   Fulminant Prism                    Conjuration/Hexes            5
   Iron Shot                          Conjuration/Earth            6
   Orb of Destruction                 Conjuration                  7
Miscellaneous
 U - a plain deck of cards
Rods
 C - a short glowing rod
   (You found it on level 8 of the Lair of Beasts)


   Skills:
 + Level 8.2 Fighting
 - Level 16.6 Maces & Flails
   Level 1.1 Polearms
 + Level 9.9 Armour
 + Level 6.5 Dodging
 - Level 2.3 Stealth
 - Level 13.4 Shields
 - Level 7.8 Invocations
 - Level 2.0 Evocations

[Tyndras]

someone spectate me at cszo! i'm in a bad spot

[Tyndras]

halp

[Amnesiac]

"Terra Nullius"... I would prefer something like Eveningstar of the Bread or "Juwaryuul"